The fall in foreign tourism this summer has been historic; from the 11,941 million euros spent by international tourists who visited Spain in July 2019 we have gone down to 2,450 million euros in July this year, a drop of 79.5%, but who has borne the brunt, and has it impacted all territories equally?
"Behind the official data that we read in the media there are some keys that can help us to prepare for the reactivation of demand, once the health figures improve and the mobility restrictions are lifted, which a single European protocol would help a lot. But a detailed analysis of the causes and their origins allows us to visualise the opportunities and take action on them in a coordinated way between the different autonomous communities", according to Angel García Butragueño, Director of Tourism and Leisure and Co-Director of BRAINTRUST's Tourism Barometer.
6 Autonomous Communities account for 94% of the fall in total spending
According to an analysis carried out by BRAINTRUST based on data published by the INE in the Tourism Expenditure Survey (Egatur), Catalonia and the Balearic Islands are the Autonomous Communities that have been most affected, as between them they account for half of the fall in total expenditure suffered by Spanish tourism.
After these two big losers, there are four other Autonomous Regions: the Canary Islands, Andalusia, Valencia and Madrid. The Canary Islands, Andalusia, Valencia and Madrid together account for 43% of this fall. The rest of the Autonomous Communities (13 if the autonomous territories are included) share the remaining 6%.
The reason for these differences is twofold: the six leading regions are those with the highest volume of international tourist expenditure, but they are also among those most affected by the fall in the number of tourists. On the other hand, others such as the Basque Country, Navarre and Castile and Leon, which have less weight in the volume received, have also performed somewhat better.
The UK has been responsible for almost a quarter of the fall in foreign spending.
Among the issuing countries, the United Kingdom is clearly the one that has contributed most to the fall in spending, and its recommendation not to travel to Spain and to force visitors to quarantine seems to have been forceful.
Germany, the Nordic countries as a whole, the USA and France are also among the main contributors to the fall in total spending this summer.
One origin, one destination concerned
Analysing the drop in spending in the most affected Autonomous Communities according to the tourist's country of residence, the data yield relevant conclusions, many of them predictable, but others less so:
- The fall in tourists from the UK has had a significant impact on the islands, both in the Balearics and the Canaries.
- Spending by tourists resident in Germany has particularly affected the Balearic Islands.
- The fall in the number of Americans, French and Russians has had a greater impact on Catalonia, which is the region that has been most successful in attracting this type of traveller.
- The decline in travellers from the Americas (excluding the US) has had a significant impact on the Madrid Region.
The most well-behaved type of foreign tourist this summer came by road and stayed in second homes and the homes of family and friends.
The tourist profile that has performed best this year is the one that has entered the country by road, favoured by the proximity, and who has chosen to stay overnight in non-market accommodation, second homes and family or friends' homes, as both concepts are the ones that have evolved best compared to July 2019.
In this respect, the countries that have gained relative weight are Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Portugal, on the other hand, although it has not lost weight, has not gained as much as might be expected.
Reactivation strategies for the future
Clearly, the restrictions imposed, quarantine periods, etc., are a blocking factor which, at present, severely limits the possibilities for recovery. However, now seems to be a good time to lay the foundations for a more rapid and sustainable recovery. These include:
Short-term
- Image campaign with real foreign tourists, i.e. tourists who came to Spain on holiday in July.
- Support campaigns and communications with visitor data that reflect the safety of destinations.
Medium/long term
- Alliances between Autonomous Regions. AA, developing joint actions that allow synergies to be obtained. In this sense BRAINTRUST has developed studies that reflect the existence of clusters of Communities that at a given time could mutually benefit from actions and investments.
- Analyse in detail the possibilities and potential of international second home tourists, who have proven to be the most loyal and sustainable in times like the present.
- At a given moment, work on the diversification of origins, especially in those regions that maintain a higher level of concentration in specific origins.
According to José Manuel Brell, Co-Director of the Tourism Barometer and Partner in charge of the Quantitative Studies and Models practice at BRAINTRUST: "Inthis analysis carried out by BRAINTRUST, the origin and causes of the drop in foreign tourists this summer and their corresponding expenditure appear, which can help us to reactivate a scarce but existing demand in the future. However, thisshould be based on coordinated actions between the different tourism policy and promotion bodies, which in times of crisis such as these must work together to make the most of the opportunities. These are times of collaboration and synergies and not of partisanship and regionalism, all together we will achieve greater challenges and obtain better results".
